2025/05/30 by Giorgi Tukhashvili, Tukhashvili, Giorgi
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO) #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th) #History and Theory of Mathematics #Relativity and Gravitational Theory
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2506.00108
openalex publication_date 2025/05/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Higher curvature corrections to the Einstein-Hilbert term may play an important role in probing the strong-field regime of gravity. In this letter, we demonstrate that the local effective action reproducing the trace anomaly can resemble the Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory in four dimensions on specific backgrounds. The two key observations support this claim: 1) the covariant equation of the trace anomaly coincides with the trace of the metric variation in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory, and 2) on the FRW space-time, the Friedmann-like equations in both frameworks coincide, with this correspondence extending to the quadratic and cubic perturbations. As an intrinsically four-dimensional construct, the trace anomaly effective action emerges as a promising framework for exploring higher curvature corrections to Einstein's General Relativity in a self-consistent manner.